论文标题
衍射帆上辐射压力的理论
Theory of Radiation Pressure on a Diffractive Solar Sail
论文作者
论文摘要
由辐射压力推动的太阳帆使得仅使用化学火箭无法实现太空任务。对于诸如太阳极性轨道器之类的任务的显着空间推进，可以通过帆偏离阳光的平均角度方向偏离阳光。这里检查了由周期性锯齿棱镜元素组成的阳光衍射的阳光的动量转移效率。发现光谱的效率比太阳光谱的峰值更长时，可以接近单片棱镜的效率。与理想的反射式帆相比，这种理想化的衍射分析预测了更大的横向辐射压力。借助现代的光学设计和制造技术，有一天有一天可以取代反射式帆。
Solar sails propelled by radiation pressure enable space missions that cannot be achieved using chemical rockets alone. Significant in-space propulsion for missions such as a solar polar orbiter may be achieved with a sail that deviates sunlight at a large average angular direction. The momentum transfer efficiency of sunlight diffracted from a sun-facing diffractive sail comprised of periodic sawtooth prism elements is examined here. The spectrally averaged efficiency is found to approach that of a monolithic prism when the grating period is much longer than the peak of the solar spectrum. This idealized diffraction analysis predicts a greater transverse radiation pressure force compared to an idealized reflective sail. With modern optical design and fabrication techniques, diffractive solar sails may one day replace reflective sails.
